The title, "Age of Aquarius," which identified "The Psychedelic Sixties" or "Hippies," "Yippies," and rise of the "Woodstock Generation" was originally associated with an astrological sign representing a constellation of stars, the eleventh of the zodiac. It was traditionally linked with water, since its coming meant that the sun was in that part of the heavens in January and February. The term, Age of Aquarius, long used in Astrology, assumed its new significance for young and uninhibited devotees when the musical show Hair linked its popular rock lyrics to an unforgettable melody and provided a new zany explanation for the way rock audiences faced the vicissitudes of life. It denoted boundary violation, carefree abandonment, humor, and a venue for imbibing in booze, dope, nudity, sex, and upbeat music, mostly but not exclusively rock.

People, mostly young, tired of the pompous cliches and worn out admonitions of their parents, decided that with the dawning of the Age of Aquarius they would no longer need the sanctions of the hegemony to survive in life. Instead they put their faith in an open set of values that were at the same time naively honest, revolutionary, and kind, but those which, above all, celebrated life. For most celebrants their revels represented more than appeasing appetites, as the "roaring 20's" parties did; the new generation had a cultic concern for making and living in a better world, and backing away from repressive cold war behavioral codes and the military mentality that characterized American political rhetoric.